I’m getting my latest dose of soul music from a Swedish born Japanese singer named Yukimi Nagano. Who would of thunk it. She is the lead singer of Little Dragon. I’m a little late to the party in regards to this musical discovery. They’ve been on the scene since 2006. Better late than never.

Their music is funky, raw and minimal. Her voice is sultry and passionate. I’m officially a fan.

Their latest album, released in July of 2011 entitled Ritual Union, has been well received by the critics.

Enjoy!
MB

Little Dragon Wiki

Little Dragon is a Swedish electronic band, formed in Gothenburg in 1996. It consists of Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion) and her close high school friends Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Källgren Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). Little Dragon’s first release was the double A-side 7″ single “Twice”/”Test”, released on the Off the Wall label in 2006. The following year, the band signed with the larger British indie label Peacefrog Records and released their self-titled debut album Little Dragon on 27 August 2007. Their second album, Machine Dreams, was released on 17 August 2009, followed by their third album, Ritual Union, released on 25 July 2011.

Since then, the band have toured throughout Europe and have also made music videos for the songs “Test”, “Twice”, “Constant Surprises”, “After the Rain” and “Fortune”. The double A-side single “Fortune”/”Blinking Pigs” was released in the UK on 26 January 2009. Their song “Twice” was featured in an episode of the fifth season of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy. In late 2009, the group was chosen as one of Beyond Race Magazine’s “50 Emerging Artists”, resulting in a spot in the publication’s eleventh issue as well as an exclusive online Q&A on the magazine’s site.

The band’s name was inspired by the “Little Dragon” nickname Nagano earned due to the “fuming tantrums” she used to throw while recording in the studio. “It’s a little exaggerated but there is some truth in it”, Nagano said. “But we’ve grown up a bit and I realised you can’t have a fit every day because otherwise you won’t be able to stand each other.”

In September 2011, former keyboardist Arild Werling joined on support keys during live performances.

About the author

Mango Black is some dude who has for the last 10 years been involved in all sorts of crazy shi+ in the city of LA. Check me out on Instagram: @mangoblack